On our passage to Hawai'i we had a passenger for a night. We were at least 300nm from Nuku Hiva when this sea bird (Dave, can you ID this guy for me?) landed on our bimini and stayed there all night. He got a free ride north. He left at dawn the next day, but not before leaving a nice present for us in the cockpit.
We had some challenging conditions on the passage, not to mention the death of the transmission, for which we are currently awaiting replacement parts. It's been more than a week since the order, and where are the parts? Well, they're "on their way." So I'm trying the aloha way and having faith that they really are on the way. Smokin' hopium is what my dad calls that. I'm goin' with it. It's all I've got.
This is not the boat you want to see off your bow. But we were glad for the help. And Rob (the tow boat captain) had us over for Thanksgiving dinner. Glad to be back in the USA!
We drove up to Volcano National Park and saw some pretty good petroglyphs. I don't think they brought the artists along from the Marquesas, though.
Local snorkeling, lots of Pacific Sea Turtles.
We heard there was snow up on the volcano, so, hopeful, we drove up to 9,200 feet and hiked up to this point. Alas, no snow in sight.
At least Mart got to wear his Possum hat from NZ!
12/7/16 UPDATE: So after 2 weeks our transmission parts are still in Seattle! Mart's been on the phone this morning with the manufacturer (in British Columbia) and the supplier (Seattle) after getting nowhere with the local aloha diesel dealer. He's arranged for it to be shipped directly to Kona on an Alaska Air flight tonight and it will be here in the morning. Go Martin! Aloha that.
12/7/16 UPDATE: So after 2 weeks our transmission parts are still in Seattle! Mart's been on the phone this morning with the manufacturer (in British Columbia) and the supplier (Seattle) after getting nowhere with the local aloha diesel dealer. He's arranged for it to be shipped directly to Kona on an Alaska Air flight tonight and it will be here in the morning. Go Martin! Aloha that.
Regarding the bird, it looks like a Blue-footed Booby, non-breeding plumage. What was the size?
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave! This bird was about booby size, I'm guessing a 3 ft wingspan and 12-14" body height. I haven't seen this coloring on boobies before, plus no blue feet (but now remember that the blue feet change with nutrition, breeding state, etc.) Happy winter!
DeleteI check you blog most every day, and read each entry eagerly. It's a quick, easy escape from the upstate NY winter gray. Don't get me wrong, I love winter, which would be OK with snow, but nothing useful has stuck around yet, much like your trip up the volcano.
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